Garment holder



GARMENT HOLDER Filed Feb. 7, 1969 United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 223-963 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A garment holder, connectable to aclothes hanger, having resilient downwardly extending legs with intumedanges on the lower ends thereof adapted to disengageably grip a portionof a garment, such as trouser legs, therebetween.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Holders heretofore developed capable of grippingthe lower ends of legs of a pair of trousers to prevent the trousersfrom slipping on the hanger and to prevent wrinkling or creasing of thetrouser legs have been unduly complicated and expensive.

Trouser hangers heretofore developed have utilized springs or curvedrods pivotally connected to the body of a hanger which may be urgedtogether and locked in position using pins or clips to lock grippingelements in engagement with the garment.

Garments on display in clothing stores are normally removed from thehanger when a purchase is made. When expensive garments are purchased,the garment may be left on a hanger. However, the cost of a hanger isnormally added in to the sales price of the clothing. No garment hangerhas been developed heretofore which is capable of firmly gripping andsecuring the legs of trousers to a clothes hanger which is simple andinexpensive to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION We have developed a garment holder which may beconnected to a conventional clothes hanger for gripping the legs oftrousers and the like. The holder consists of one integral piece ofresilient material formed to be supported by a conventional clotheshanger and having inwardly directed flanges on the lower end thereofadapted to secure the cuff of trousers therebetween.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide agarment holder attachment for a conventional wire clothes hanger forsecuring trousers and other garments to the hanger.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment holder whereinthe cuff of a pair of trousers may be secured therein by merelydeflecting the lower ends of resilient legs outwardly causing the cuffof trousers to be secured therebetween.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment holder havinginwardly turned flanges on the lower ends of resilient legs in which theends of the anges are tapered whereby downwardly extending resilientlegs will be spread automatically to grip a garment by merely pullingthe garment longitudinally toward the ends of the flanges.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holder for trouserswherein the holder has indentations in the upper edge thereof forreceiving and centering a clothes hanger therein.

A further object of the invention is to provide a trouser holder whichis inexpensive to construct making it economically feasible to give`away the holder.

Other and further objects of the invention will become 3,519,176Patented July 7, 1970 ICC apparent from the detailed descriptionhereinafter following and by referring to the drawings annexed hereto.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Drawings of a preferred embodiment of theinvention are provided so that the invention may be better and morefully understood, in which:

FIG. I is a side elevational view with parts broken away to more clearlyshow details of construction of the garment holder employed inconjunction with a conventional clothes hanger for securing the leg oftrousers thereto;

FIG. II is a plan view of the garment holder;

FIG. III is an end view of the garment holder with the legs of a pair oftrousers secured therein;

FIG. IV is an end view of trouser holder without a garment securedtherein; and

FIG. V is a fragmentary elevational view of the lower side of one end ofthe trouser holder.

Numeral references are employed to designate like parts throughout thevarious figures of the drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. I of the drawingthe numeral 1 generally designates a garment holder illustrated in itscooperative relationship with a conventional clothes hanger 2 forsupporting legs 4 of a pair of trousers.

Clothes hanger 2 consists of a horizontal portion 2a having upwardlyinclined portions 2b and 2c at opposite ends thereof and having a hookportion 2d centrally located thereon. In the particular embodiment ofthe invention illustrated in the drawing clothes hanger 2 is formed ofrelatively rigid wire which is bent and secured together in a well knownmanner. Other and different clothes hangers may be used in conjunctionwith the trouser holder 1.

It should also be noted that other garments besides trousers, such asskirts, handkerchiefs, towels and the like, may be gripped by the holder1.

Holder 1 consists of a resilient body having a horizontal upper portion6, downwardly extending legs 8 and 10 secured to opposite sides thereof,and inwardly directed anges 12 and 14 on the lower end of each leg.

Horizontal upper portion 6 of trouser holder 1 has indentations 16 and18 in opposite ends thereof for receiving and engaging inclined portions2b and 2c respectively of hanger 2, causing lower portion 2a of saidhanger to be centered between the edges of the horizontal upper portion6 of hanger 1, causing holder `1 to be aligned and held securely on theclothes hanger.

As best illustrated in FIGS. I and IV of the drawing, legs 8 and 10,secured to opposite edges of upper portions 6, converge downwardlycausing ange 14 to lie in overlying relation with flange 12 when legs 8and 10 are in a relaxed position which they occupy when a garment is notsecured between the edges 12a and 14a of anges |12 and 14 respectively.Downwardly converging legs 8 and 10 form an elongated substantiallywedge shaped space 19 which lies therebetween with flanges 12 and 14extending across the lower end thereof.

Legs 8 and 10 have tapered surfaces 20 and 22 respectively on the loweredges thereof and flanges 12 and 14 have tapered surfaces 24 and 26respectively on opposite ends thereof, tapered surfaces 20 and 24 and 22and 26 defining the sides of a converging passage 30.

Holder 1 is constructed of resilient material such as plastic and may beformed by any of several well known processes.

Holder l'may be connected to the horizontal portion 2a of a conventionalclothes hanger 2 by placing a portion a of clothes .hanger 2 inpassageway 30 and applying a slight force causing pressure to be exertedupon the tapered surfaces dening the passage 30 to spread flanges 12 and14, allowing horizontal portion 2a to be positioned under the horizontalupper portion 6 in indentions 16 and 18.

To secure a garment, such as the leg 4 of a pair of trousers, betweenanges 12 and 14, the leading edge 5 of the garment may be pulled throughconverging passage 30, causing flanges 12 and 14 to move outwardlyallowing the garment to be moved to the position illustrated in FIG. Iof the drawing. The resilience of legs 8 and 10 causes edges 12a and 14aon flanges 12 and 14 respectively to engage opposite sides of thegarment 4 to firmly grip the garment therebetween.

From the foregoing it should be readily apparent that we have developeda garment holder attachment for a clothes hanger which is veryinexpensive to construct, making it economically feasible for stores,dry cleaning establishments and the like to give the holder to acustomer when a garment is delivered. The garment holder is very simpleto use and a garment may be secured therein by merely positioning thegarment adjacent the end of a lower portion of the trouser holder andmoving the garment longitudinally relative thereto.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. A garment holder comprising a resilient body; downwardly converginglegs on the body, said legs having tapered surfaces on lower portionsthereof forming a V-shaped passage intermediate the upper and loweredges of the converging legs; a horizontally disposed upper portionextending between the upper edges of the said legs; means for securingthe upper portion to a clothes hanger; inwardly turned flanges on thelower edges of the legs so constructed and arranged that the legs andanges may be separated to position a portion of a gar-- menttherebetween and released to grip the garment between the anges, saidflanges having tapered surfaces on opposite ends thereof forming asecond V-shaped passage at the lower end of the rst named V-shapedpassage such that movement of a garment through the V-shaped passageslongitudinal to the flanges exerts outwardly directed forces to separatethe flanges.

2. The combination called for in claim 1 wherein the means for securingthe upper portion of the body to a clothes hanger includes indentures inopposite ends of the upper portion, said indentures having inwardly converging sides adapted to secure a portion of the clothes hanger to thelower side of the upper portion of the body.

3. The combination called for in claim 1 wherein the anges on the legsof the resilient body are arranged to lie in overlying relation when noexternal force is exerted thereon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,805,013 9/1957 Comfort 223-962,908,429 10/1959 Edwards 223--91 FOREIGN PATENTS 18,821 1l/1890 GreatBritain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner

